Rising rapper Lil Keed dies at 24, according to reports; T.I., Drake, more mourn Atlanta artist
Rising Atlanta rapper Lil Keed, who was known for songs like "Nameless" and "Fox 5" has died, according to reports from The New York Times, Complex and XXL. He was 24.
"Can’t believe I seened u die today bro I did all my cries I know what u want me to do and that’s go hard for Mama Daddy Our Brothers Naychur and Whiteboy," Keed's brother Lil Gotit wrote on Instagram Saturday, alongside a photo of him and Lil Keed.
A cause of death has not been given. The rapper, whose legal name is Raqhid Jevon Render, was signed to Young Thug's record label YSL Records.
Lil Keed debuted his first studio album, "Long Live Mexico," in 2019, which he followed up with his sophomore album "Trapped on Cleveland 3" in 2020. It was the third installation in a series of mixtapes he released in 2018 titled "Trapped in Cleveland" and "Trapped in Cleveland 2."
The rapper elaborated on the two-year gap between series installments in a 2020 interview with Complex.
"Back then, I was talking about stuff like typical rappers: shooting, killing, just saying shit because that’s what everybody wanted to hear,” he told the outlet. “Now that I done grew from all that and I done moved myself out of that situation, I’m just letting folks know why I was so trapped on Cleveland, as far as me going to the hood everyday and all the shootouts."
Lil Keed was expected to headline at North Carolina's Daze in Blue music festival Saturday alongside Uno the Activist and Big Baby Gucci. Both artists mourned the rapper on their social media accounts.
"Man how the (expletive) Lil Keed die. We was supposed to rock out tomorrow," Uno the Activist wrote on his Instagram story.
Big Baby Gucci shared a poster of the festival on his Instagram account and wrote: "today .. rip keed i hoped to meet bro."
Fans and celebrities took to social media to express their grief, with some thinking the rapper's death was coincidentally timed to the RICO incident.
"There’s no way that Young Thug, Gunna, and most of YSL gets arrested then Lil Keed dies. Something’s going on bruh YSL is being attacked," tweeted @The_Zonai.
Fellow YSL Records rapper Gunna was booked into an Atlanta jail Wednesday on a racketeering charge after he was indicted with Young Thug and more than two dozen other people for conspiracy to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act.
Rapper T.I. shared a photo of Lil Keed on Instagram and wrote "Love 4 LIFE kid....
until we meet again. Thx for the memories."
Drake shared a photo of the rapper on his Instagram stories and captioned it with a sad face emoji.
Producer Murda Beatz tweeted: "Rip Lil Keed.. So Talented Gone To Soon."
Young Thug, Gunna in police custody:after being named in sweeping RICO violation indictment
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Lil Keed, rising Atlanta rapper, dies at 24; celebrities mourn: Reports
